A majority of Quebecers agree to invest in new road infrastructure, even if nearly one in two voters say they are dissatisfied with the Legault government’s environmental record, according to the latest Léger-Le Journal-TVA-QUB survey.
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The dissatisfaction of a majority of voters on the environmental issue does not mean that François Legault must give up his road investments.
Quebecers, who have seen their road network deteriorate for years, remain mostly (55%) in favor of the development of new road infrastructure.
Barely one in four voters oppose it (26%), but as many in solidarity are in favor (26%).
On the specific issue of the controversial third link project between Quebec and Lévis, support in the Capitale-Nationale remains practically unchanged, at 58%.
Across Quebec, however, only a quarter of respondents agree with the highway tunnel project.
But there is one caveat: there are almost as many opponents of the 3rd link (33%) as voters who say they don’t know about the project (29%).
And surprise: nearly one in four caquists (24%) do not hesitate to speak out against the 3rd link project, while 17% of them prefer to remain silent.
The Achilles heel of the CAQ
Four months before the elections, the environment is becoming a real Achilles heel for François Legault.
Surprisingly, “the CAQists themselves criticize the government’s environmental record,” notes pollster Jean-Marc Léger.
Indeed, those who plan to vote for the CAQ in the October 3 election respond rather timidly when asked about the government’s environmental record.
While a majority of CAQ respondents (55%) say they are satisfied, a quarter of them (24%) say the opposite and almost as many (21%) refuse to answer.
Young people more dissatisfied
Supporters of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois are the most dissatisfied (81%) with the government on this issue: only 6% of those in solidarity consider the government’s record to be satisfactory.
Curiously, Éric Duhaime activists follow just behind Québec solidaire: 69% of Conservatives say they are dissatisfied with the CAQ environmental record.
However, the Conservatives are the least worried about climate change, just under 25% of them, while it is a concern shared by more than 80% of voters from the other parties.
Looking more closely at the profile of respondents, we see that the rate of environmental satisfaction is twice as low among those aged 18-34 (22%) as among those aged 55 and over (42%), who seem less concerned.
Urban sprawl
As for the issue of urban sprawl, which could be part of the election campaign, a majority of Quebecers consider it a municipal responsibility (36%).
“But the government (20%) also has a say,” observes Mr. Léger, while 14% of respondents see no problem.
In fact, 44% of Quebecers believe that “people should be free to choose the type of housing and lifestyle that suits them”, while 25% of voters say they are ready to reconsider their type of housing and their way of life in a perspective of urban densification, to better fight against climate change.
METHODOLOGY: Web survey conducted from May 20 to 22, 2022 among 1,019 Quebecers aged 18 or over. It is not possible to calculate a margin of error on a panel sample, but for comparison, the maximum margin of error for a sample of 1019 respondents is plus or minus 3.1%, and this 19 times out of 20.
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